Opening remarks:
We evaluated the game and the way we can improve. Our intention is to apply those moving forward and get on to Colorado. We’ll have meetings with our players this afternoong to start presenting to them a scouting report and game plan formation for them.

On Colorado’s win:
It’s a great come-from-behind win against a Pac-12 opponent. I think that boosts your spirits. They had a couple tough losses now they get to come home after a win. That’ll help them emotionally.

On Colorado struggling before the win:
We really try to stay away from looking at a team’s record. We try to stay away from a team’s emotional state. That takes the focus on what we need to do which is prepare as best we can. I’m sure there’s alwayas a little bit of that but we do the best we can to keep our focus, to win a football game each week.

On any anger after losing and whether it can be good:
I think that it can motivate you if it’s channeled in the right direction. I think it can absolutely do that. What’s important is you learn the lessons of why it happened on Saturday. What happened to affect the outcome of the game and the way it came out. You apply those lessons and move forward. The motivation has to be more internal than external. If you become a team that’s motivated by what happened the week before you can find inconsistencies.

On the challenge of playing on the road in almost a month:
It’s always a bit of a challenge going on the road. It’ll be a little bit of a hostile environment. Colorado is not an easy place to play. I’ve been in that stadium since I was a kid. My dad coached there so I remember running around that stadium. But maintaining the focus. When you go into an unfamiliar environment it’s always a challenge. I think our team has a level of maturity and I think we’ll handle it the right way.

On the new practice schedule:
We gave it a lot of thought in the offseason in terms of the best approach to practicing during the week. These kids have a lot of things they have to balance. Certainly school is a priority and classes start for them on Thursday. You know, football study, their tutoring and all those things, and having some time to just download a little bit. So we figured the best way to approach it this year was to practice in the morning, get them up and get them going early when we really got their full attention. Then they can attend their classes during the day. Then we’ll get them at the end of the day for another hour and watch practice film. So we kind of ensure that we get them on campus, get them to practice, get them to class. I think they’ll be motivated to go to bed at an early hour because they have to get up at an early hour. It’s a little bit of an adjustment for us. They don’t have class until Thursday so we felt this was the perfect week to get them adjusted.

On injuries:
Jeff Baca, we’ll find out today or tomorrow for the status of the week. But things look very positive for him, but it’s not difinitive. Steven Manfro will practice.

On reaction after a defeat:
The defeat bothered them because they worked very hard. It’s important for them. When we met them this morning they were very focused. Not in the tank, not down. When we come back at 4:30 I expect them to have a little energy about them and then we’re on to Colorado. I think they’ll respond very, very well. That’s just my gut feeling. I’m excited to see how they’ll respond.

On the home crowd’s energy:
It’s great to play at home. I wish I had said this after the game, Someone asked me about the crowd. Our student section is amazing, considering we’re not even in school. I looked over there in the fourth quarter. When you’re walking down the sidelines to the north you can’t help but notice our student section right there and they were going crazy. It was awesome.

On what stood out about Colorado’s win:
What stood out was their spirit. The way they fought back on the road. It’s exponentially more difficult to fight back on the road they way they were down and get a win. That was really impressive to me. It says a lot about the character of the kids and their coaching staff.

More specifically?
I kind of just watched to get a general feel for them. They’re going to play some four-downs, some three-down on defense and get in some spread formations on offense.

On Colorado tailback Christian Powell:
He’s a back that we recruited. He was a fullback and they moved him to tailback. He runs hard. He’s hard to bring down. A good player for a freshman. This is not a back you’re going to block down. You’re gonna have to gang takckle him. He’ll break tackles. We have to improve on our tackling. It wasn’t up to par on Saturday.

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